A Lil'Cutie

One of the ladies just laid our smallest egg ever.  Maybe I'll poach it and feed it to Ben.

Autumn Rituals Revisited

First of all, you need some good company when raking leaves.  Enter, Miles Giles.  Not only did he keep me company on this gorgeous fall day, but he also managed to stay out of the way.  It's a lot to ask of a 2-year-old pup to stay out of piles and piles of freshly-raked leaves.  I think he was too interested in all the autumn preparations being made by nearby creatures readying themselves for a long winter.  The deer, rabbits, squirrels, and birds have been working tirelessly collecting nuts, berries, and whatever-the-hell-else they need to survive until spring.

 "I smell a rabbit!"

 "Do you smell that rabbit?"

"Hold on, I think I smell another rabbit!"

The big poplar pictured below gives us a ton of leaves, and we have a million other trees in the yard, but I'll need more than they can provide.  I know I'll need several loads of leaves to cover beds in the kitchen garden, and I also want to put leaves in the chicken yard throughout the season.  Dry leaves give the birds something to scratch around in, and they love hunting around for all the bugs in there.

Can you find Miles?

My best next-door neighbor was kind enough to grant me permission to rake up all of his leaves this autumn, free of charge!  This might not sound like a big deal, but believe me, it is.  My neighbor takes immaculate care of his yard and garden.  He meticulously rakes his leaves as soon as they hit the ground, and he has a lot of trees.  This neighbor adds his leaves to his compost pile, mulches his beds with them, and so on.  He uses each and every leaf.

Unfortunately, Mr. Best Neighbor in the World will be wintering in Florida.  Fortunately, however, I landed this year's rights to his fallen leaves!

One batch ready for the chicken yard.

All of today's leaves got moved into the chicken yard.  The easiest way to get them there is to rake them onto a big tarp and drag them.  I don't bother spreading them around, I suffer from allergies enough as it is.  I just dump them in big piles, and the girls get busy and move them where they want them.  

I take care of the collection and transportation of the leaves.  The chickens do all of the distribution.  By tomorrow their entire yard will be evenly covered in leaves, and I mean perfectly evenly covered.

Here, I have an empty garden bed.  It's the only empty bed in my entire kitchen garden right now.  Woo-hoo, fall garden!  Anyway, I am going to put this bed to bed.

Stripped-down bed, all hoed-up.

I have asked a lot from this bed.  It has grown garlic, beets, peppers and corn, and it has done this non-stop for a full year.  So, it needs some TLC.  I started out by giving it a good hoe.  Next, I dumped a few gallons of vermicompost on top.

Ben intentionally left some worms in this batch of vermicompost.  They'll do us some good in the garden.

These guys get to try their luck living on the outside.  Will they succumb to drought?  Will they become a bird's prey?  Or, will they get hacked by a shovel?...

I just dumped them out in one big pile.  I don't spread them out.  The worms work themselves into the ground at their own speed, and they spread themselves out down there.  They actually are a lot better off if you just leave it up to them.

A big pile of worm poop.

Immediately after I put down the vermicompost, I threw on a layer of old chicken bedding.  Conveniently, I just cleaned out their coop this morning, so I had a good load of chicken poop and straw.  No, this hasn't been composted, but that's not a problem.  The chickens spend so much time running and playing outside that they don't poop a ton in their house.  So, there isn't an awful lot of poo in the straw.  Also, this bed will sit here for at least five months.  During this time, I'll add some leaves, grass clippings, compost, and whatever other good organic matter I have around.  Lots of sexy composting action will happen right on top of this bed.

I like seeing random feathers in the mulch.  It reminds me that chickens are great garden helpers.

There are many more autumn rituals to be performed.  I'll soon be weed-eating and mulching around the blueberry bushes, planting fruit trees, fertilizing and mulching asparagus, and a multitude of other things. I feel like a busy little squirrel, myself.

Chicken Diaries: New Romance

Robert Rooster loves Paulie.  They hang out together a lot.  He keeps extra-close watch over her while she's laying her eggs, and they just seem to have a good time.

Robert Rooster and Paulie Newman

All this hand-holding and fraternizing has been good for Paulie; this sweet girl has been giving us gorgeous blue-green eggs for several days now!  I've caught her in the nest box doing the deed a few times.  

Paulie's grown into quite the young lady.  A few months ago, she seemed very shy.  She never came to greet me and kept to herself most of the time.  Now that she's all grown up, she seems to have become more gregarious.  She's my best feathered friend now.  Sorry, Stevie.

 Stevie.  We used to be BFF.

Paulie, the girl with the teal eggs.

Because I'm so thankful for the beautiful eggs we've been getting,  I wanted to give the chickens a fun snack.  I remembered that there was a winter squash with a tiny little patch of mold in the basement.  I had meant to give it to the ladies and gent a few days ago.  Perfect snack.

Amish Butter Squash

I took the Amish Butter squash up to the kitchen for dissection.  As soon as I cut into it, I knew that it was just too good to give to the chickens.  It was so incredibly aromatic that Thurgood woke up from his nap, hopped out of the bed, and trotted into the kitchen looking for a treat.  It smelled just like a sweet cantaloup, and Thurgood loves melon.  The juicy-sweet smell lingered in the air as I scooped out the seeds and put them in a bowl for the chickens.  As for the flesh, I put that on a cookie sheet, and into the oven it went.  It will roast until it's mushy soft, then I'll sprinkle on some brown sugar and let it caramelize in the oven.  After cooling, I'll peel the squash halves and puree them.  I'll put the squash into the freezer and use it later in a pie, soup, or beer.

Chicken Salad?

For snacktime, I paired the squash seeds with leftover sweet potato fries.  I garnished with nasturtium leaves and flowers.  It was pretty popular.

Nancy and Denise seem very interested.

They went for the squash guts and sweet potato immediately, but weren't too excited about the nasturtium.  Typical.

Chicken World Today

We've been given our first blue egg thanks to Paulie, Stevie, or Alex.  I'm not sure which Ameraucana has started laying, but Ben says he believes it's Stevie.

A blue (That is blue, right?  Looks sorta greenish.) Ameraucana egg and a brown Wyandotte or Australorp egg.

Paulie, front and center.

The Ameraucanas and Wyandottes are the same age, so I guess it is also possible that the Wyandottes are laying, too.  It's hard to tell because we'll get brown eggs from both the Wyandottes and the Australorps.

Precious.

We have three Golden-Laced Wyandotte hens, three Ameraucana hens, and ten surviving Australorp hens.  Our rooster, Robert, is an Ameraucana.  Right now, we're getting one to three eggs per day.  I'm hoping that one day soon that number will rise to an even dozen.

Robert Rooster

I love Robert.  He is the best rooster I could ever dream of having.  He's got a great attitude and a lot of character.  His crow is so righteous that it demands an "Amen, brother!" in response.  I love Robert.

Preciouses

Robert is performing all of his duties; he welcomes the morning, afternoon, and evening with his musical greeting, he loves his ladies right, and he generally keeps everyone on their toes.

Where deposites are made.

The girls have been religiously laying their eggs in the next boxes.  I'm so glad we don't have to go searching high and low for eggs every day.  Each box has been used, and the eggs stay clean and safe until we can collect them.  It's almost too easy.

We had figs for snack time today.

I don't know what we did before we had chickens.  They've been in our lives for six months now, and I don't remember what things were like without them.  Just as I know I'll always have dogs in my life, I hope we will never be without a backyard flock of chickens.

Drum Roll, Please...

Tah-Dah!

We kicked off the month on a very high note.  El Huevo Numero Uno was laid on September first!  It was more than likely an Australorp that did the deed.  Our Wyandottes will also lay brown eggs, but they are a few weeks younger.  The Ameraucanas will give us pastel eggs.

It has gone like this so far: one egg on the first, second, and third, no eggs on the fourth, and two eggs on the fifth.  We've been gifted with one egg so far today.  The ladies have been laying in the late afternoon, so it's possible we'll get more today.  

September fifth was almost as exciting as the first.  Not only did we get two eggs on that day, but we also saw that three nest boxes are being habitated.  I'm feeling very optimistic.

I can't wait to see what colors the Ameraucanas will lay.  Now that one of them is a rooster, we'll only be getting eggs out of three of them.  Blue?  Green?  Pink?  One of each would be beyond my wildest dreams.  Well, maybe not my wildest dreams.  Anyways...

Cock-A-Doodle-WHO?

As I was taking my daily stroll to open up the Hen House last Sunday morning, I was welcomed with an unexpected greeting.  For the first time as a new chicken mother, I heard the unmistakable sound of a rooster's crow.  I opened the first set of shutters and said, "Which one of you is it?  Give it to me again."   And sure enough, Roberta Redford sat up tall and belted out another, "Err-err-err-err-ooooo!"  Dammit.  I was so sure that we were rooster-free.  Ben claims to have known it, deep down in his heart, all along, that Roberta was really Robert.  She He is just slightly larger than the rest, but he sure had me fooled.

Oh.  NOW I see it.

I have to say that of all the chickens, I'm glad to call him our rooster.  He is a gorgeous Ameraucana, covered with rainbow feathers and looks like half of his DNA is from a wild turkey.  Robert is also very sweet and has a great personality (roosterality?).  I hope puberty doesn't bring out the worst in him.

I think that Robert's new-found crow is a harbinger for better times to come in the egg-laying department.  Our babies are now four and five months old, and I'm ready for a quiche.  Robert's new crow is like a 14-year-old boy's  trash stache (in my mind, at least).  So, if he's got a trash stache, then the girls have to be getting their first periods soon, right?  Menstruation happens after ovulation, so our hens best be laying soon.  Just plain logic.

I never wanted a rooster, but this is his home, and I'm happy to have him.  On the down side, that knocks our number of pastel-egg-laying hens down to three.  However, no one is laying eggs yet, so whatever.

RIP, My Little Precious

I didn't want to write this post.  

Last Friday morning, when I went to say good morning to the ladies, I was confronted by a tragic sight.  One of our Preciouses was lying dead in the corner.  No blood, no mess of feathers.  Just slightly contorted and extremely dead.

But, even more tragically, it was not just any Precious that I found dead.  It was the Precious that I had nursed  for weeks through a broken wing.  It was the Precious that I had gently bandaged and that I fed special treats as she rested safely in our little chicken infirmary. 

Precious in the infirmary

This Precious was the runt.  She was not only smaller, but she was also way less developed than the other Australorps.  After a few weeks in the infirmary, she seemed much improved.  She even began using her broken wing again, flying out of the coop in the morning.  But she never made what seemed to be a full recovery.  Although she had never lost her appetite after her injury and during recovery, and the others never kept her away from meals or treats afterwards, Precious continued to struggle.  She never made it back up on the roost and spent her nights huddled up in the corner.  Poor thing.

I feel bad about this, but had we lost any other Australorp, I don't think I'd feel as extremely sad as I do now.  I can tell all of the Wyandottes and Ameraucanas apart, and I am very attached to each and every one of them.  I could also pick Precious the Runt out of the crowd, so I'm really upset about the whole thing. 

I read somewhere that chickens try to hide any sickness or weakness at all costs.  They don't want to appear weak to predators or to their peers.  So, who knows how much she was really suffering all along?

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Chapters One-Eleven, has now become Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Chapters One-Ten, and our original group of nineteen is now down to seventeen.  But, one thing has remained the same: we still have no eggs!

Chicken Treat Pop Blocks and Frozen Pesto

It was sooo hot yesterday!  The high was 97 degrees with a heat index of 114.  So, after harvesting, fertilizing, and general gardening, I hunkered down in my kitchen for several hours.  I made very special treats for the girls, and a lot of pesto to freeze.

Chicken Pops
The chickens love juicy fruits like watermelon and tomato, so I thought they might want to peck at a block of frozen delights.

I made one pop block with cucumbers, cantaloupe, and tomato.  The other (back) is full of strawberries, cucumbers, and peaches.

I filled plastic containers with water and treats, put them in the deep freezer, and ta-dah!

The ladies LOVE these.  They're like chicken crack and methamphetamine all in one.  I gave them two today, and I've already put another one in the freezer for them.  If this doesn't entice them to make eggs, I don't know what will.

Round 1: Morning

Round 2: Afternoon

Hen Party

The best thing about the chicken pops is that all the ladies share them nicely.  I'm so lucky to have such a great group of girls.  Yes, they're bossy little princesses, but they've created a peacefull community amongst themselves.

Frozen Pesto Pucks
Yesterday, I posted about the pound of basil I that I had harvested that morning.  This is what came of it:

 I washed and dried all of the basil in the salad spinner.

These basil stems will be used later in vegetable stock. 

To the basil/olive oil blend, I added parmesan cheese and toasted walnuts. 

I lined a muffin pan with plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. 

 Just like little pesto hockey pucks.

I wrapped each puck individually in plastic wrap and put them in freezer bags.  

They'll keep a really long time like this.  Maybe a year?  But I always use them up pretty quickly.  I've frozen two dozen of theses so far this season.  I'm aiming for fifty.

I Now Know What I Would Write on Their Birth Certificates...

We've had chickens for a little over three months now, and it has taken this long for us to settle on names.  We thought about giving them old names (some of them family names, some of them just for fun).  None of those names stuck.  Now that I've spent a ton of time socializing with the ladies, I feel like I know their personalities well enough to assign them names that will hold true.

So, here they are:

The Ameraucanas

Stevie Martin (strikingly silver)

Paulie Newman (dull silver)
Roberta Redford (red)

Alex Baldwin (lighter red)

The Golden Laced Wyandottes

Rahmona Emanuel

Nancy Pelosi

Denise Kucinich

The Black Australorps

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Chapters One-Eleven

Please excuse the blurriness.  The girls are always in motion and difficult to photograph.


Roberta Redford [check out that mohawk!]

Nancy Pelosi

Denise Kucinich

Rahmona Emanuel

Paulie Newman

Stevie Martin


Precious...


Alex Baldwin

I can easily distinguish between all of the Golden Laced Wyandottes and Ameraucanas.  They all have different personalities and they are physically unique.  However, I must admit that I have found it impossible to keep track of which Australorp is which.  So, I simply call each one of them "Precious." Together, they are Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" Chapters One - Eleven.  It works.

Foreground: Rahmona Emanuel, midground: Stevie Martin, background: Preciouses

Stevie Martin with Rahmona Emanuel

Please don't tell the girls, but I do have my favorites.  Actually, I have one favorite in particular, and I think the feeling is mutual.  Stevie Martin LOVES me, and I have fallen in love with her.   While all the others are completely focused on the treat of the day during happy hour, Stevie sticks right by my side.  She's always the first to run up to me, and she eats out of my hand very gently.  Nancy and some of the Preciouses have warmed up to me enough to eat out of my hand, but all of them pinch my skin with their beaks.

Rahmona Emanuel, Alex Baldwin, and Roberta Redford

Stevie Martin, Rahmona Emanuel, and Alex Baldwin

Preciouses, Roberta Redford, and Alex Baldwin

As far as the Ameraucanas go, Paulie is the least gregarious.  She pretty much keeps to herself, but she's gentle and somewhat curious.  All of the Wyandottes are sweet and outgoing.  The Australorps are more interested in one another than they are in me.  They have a tight-knit family group.  The Australorps roost together, and the Wyandottes and Ameraucanas roost on the opposite side of the coop.  It seems that they've found a system that works for them, and they all know to play by the rules.  They have their cliques, but they also know how to share space and resources.

I always knew that I wanted several chickens, but I had no idea that I could become so attached to each and every one of them.  They're not even giving us eggs yet, and they've already paid us back for all of our efforts.  The entertainment, affection, and relaxation they bring to the farm is priceless.